The 2015 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas has entered the last stretch in the run up to the Main Event, with two bracelet competitions finishing over the weekend, both new inclusions on the schedule this year.
The WSOP.com semi-online event was played at six-man live table in Las Vegas, and a New Jersey pro took down the inaugural Bounty NLHE competition.
Event 62, the $1,500 Bounty NLHE competition, pulled in 2,178 entries, creating a prize pool of $2.94 million which enabled 243 entrants to cash.
The winner was Jack Duong (26), a Rutgers psychology grad and professional poker player from New Jersey.
Duong came into the event with a track record of three final tables in two visits to the World Series, last year and this. During the event Duong collected 11 bounties worth $500 each.
The event required an extra day to resolve as Duong and Czech pro Vitezslav Pesta slugged it out in a tense heads up after besting a star-studded entry list that featured players from sixty nations.
Pesta’s stubborn and skilled resistance kept him in the game despite several occasions where it appeared that he was a goner, ensuring that the tough contest went into a fourth day after 227 hands of final table action, 51 of them in the heads up on Day 3.
Duong started the last day with a massive chip lead of 15 to 1 and he wasted no time in using it good effect to finally oust the determined Czech, sending him home with a thoroughly deserved second prize of $206,734.
The New Jersey professional’s reward was his first WSOP bracelet and the main prize of $333,351, his
Other final table cashes were:
3rd Adam Johnson $146,067
4th Scott Sisler $105,024
5th Paul Warren $76,514
6th R.J. Sullivan $56,483
7th Vojtech Ruzicka $42,228
8th John Myung $31,971
9th Peter Murphy $24,511
In Event 64, six online players who had earlier survived an internet field of 905 (see previous report) took their seats for the live finale in Las Vegas of the $1,000 buy-in WSOP.com NLHE, all with ambitions for the $859,750 prize pool.
Final table chip leader Craig “Imgrinding” Varnell held 2.57 million chips at the start, pursued by Anthony “casedismissed” Spinella from New York on 2.29 million, with the other four some way behind.
The “casedismissed” handle may be a reference to a drug investigation late October 2012 in which Spinella was reportedly involved; his better known online alias is “holdplz,” under which he has amassed online career winnings approached $5 million.
Spinella was a late entrant for the online event, only registering after a friend told him the action was going well; it turned out to be a good move as he first made the final table and then emerged victorious in a heads up against Hunter “GringoLoco72” Cichy to claim his first WSOP bracelet and the $197,743 main prize.
Leading up to the heads up Spinella eliminated Ryan “Stonerboner” Franklin and David “TuttyBear” Tuthill, whilst Cichy accounted for the other two players.
Going into the heads up against Spinella, Cichy was hampered by an almost 4 to 1 chip disadvantage that he was unable to overcome, and he was sent to the exit as runner up after just twenty hands, claiming the second prize of $116,066.
Other final table cashes were:
3rd Craig “Imgrinding” Varnell $73,079
4th Andrew “Slophouse” Rose $55,884
5th David “TuttyBear” Tuthill $47,286
6th Ryan “Stonerboner” Franklin $33,530